Cuomo: Wage freeze is ‘necessary’ (video added)

Gov. Andrew Cuomo briefed reporters about the five percent pay cut he is ordering for his senior staffers.

“I believe in the old adage of lead by example,” Cuomo explained. “I said early on in the campaign, when I was talking about the new fiscal realities that we’re going to have to face and the new economic reality for the state, I said that a wage freeze was going to be necessary and I believe it is.”

He said he would negotiate this with public employee unions, and it’s unclear if it will take effect before their contracts expire. A freeze may have to last multiple years, he said.

“This is not political theory. These are numbers. And people, reasonable people can sit down and look at the numbers and understand the numbers and let those numbers dictate action.” he said. “I am looking forward to sitting at the table in a cooperative way with labor leaders all across the state. This is not the first time the state has had a fiscal crisis.”

Update: Here’s video of the governor’s Q&A, shot by Kyle Hughes of NYSNYS.